Aug 31, 2009

Seeing the potential for online advertisement thanks to a slew of new web technologies, Hearst Corporation is preparing a new site called Real Beauty that is set to launch in a couple of days. While Hearst’s new site enters an increasingly crowded field already trying to capture women’s interest—from AOL’s Stylist to Glam Media’s network of beauty and lifestyle blogs—the publisher hopes the brand names of its magazines like Cosmopolitan, Seventeen and Harper’s Bazaar will still carry weight with readers and marketers.

Hearst’s beauty website launch is at the center of a wave of new technology that is bringing a bit of the in-store beauty counter to the web. Real Beauty’s virtual makeover tool—which lets users try out different looks after posting photos online—follows others by independent site Daily Makeover and Condé Nast’s Allure.